FanVision debuts in the NFL
This year, fans of 12 NFL teams will be able to watch games on TV, while they're at the stadium.
FanVision, a handheld, four-inch high-definition screen, allows fans to watch replays, different camera angles, or out-of-town games, all in the comfort of their upper deck seats.
Purists everywhere are wringing their hands, hoping that raucous football crowds don't turn into thousands of people sitting and watching TV.
If that happens, we can all blame Stephen Ross. Ross, the billionaire owner of the Miami Dolphins, is the man behind FanVision. He acquired the creator of FanVision, a struggling company called Kangaroo, last year and hired, among others, former executive producer
of NBC sports Mike Weisman to make the product better.
“I saw potential in it; I saw it had been used in Nascar and golf and F1 racing, and I felt we could make it a better experience,” Ross told the New York Times.
Ross tested the gadget at five Dolphins games and the Super Bowl last season, and was happy enough with the results to offer FanVision to all 32 teams in the NFL.
12 teams took Ross up on his offer, while 20 did not.
“A lot of them are old school and don’t move too fast on new ideas, so they said, ‘Let’s wait and see how the other teams do.’ ”
FanVision could help the NFL deal with falling ticket sales. The invention of HD television means that many people choose to stay at home and watch the games in greater comfort.
“Technology for the fan at home is so good — with large-screen HD sets — that I have to give a better experience to the fan to come out,” Ross said.
One of the bonuses of FanVision over watching TV on a cell-phone is that stadiums set up for FanVision have their own networks set up. The user is not reliant on Wi-Fi or cellular bandwidths, meaning that the picture runs smooth with no delays.
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